Game Three
Game Four
PORTLAND, Ore., - It was a great day for
baseball at the Houston Sports Complex on Monday afternoon where
the Lewis & Clark baseball team picked up its first win of the
season over Northwest Conference foe Willamette in game four of the
series, 2-1. Sophomore pitcher Alex St. Pierre picked up the
complete game victory, striking out eight of the 28 batters he
faced.
The two teams began the day by finishing game three of the four
game series that was suspended on Sunday afternoon due to bad
weather in the Portland area. Willamette was leading the game 15-2
in the top of the fifth inning of action with David Tufo up to bat
for the Bearcats. Michael Ball was on the mound for the Pioneers,
working out of a jam that had two Bearcat runners on base and one
out.
When play finally resumed Roland Greene took the mound and was able
to force Tufo to fly out to right field, while having the next
Bearcat batter ground out to second. The Pioneers would get their
bats going in the bottom of the fifth, beginning with a leadoff
single by Jim Bray. Ryan Kostecka would join Bray on base before
both runners were brought home by a monster homerun by A.J. Brown.
The last Pioneer run would come around after back-to-back doubles
allowed Kevin Condon to score. Despite putting four more runs on
the board, the Pioneers would not be able to cut the Bearcat lead
any further falling 15-6.
The Pioneers would carry their momentum into the final game,
grabbing a 1-0 lead in the third inning with a double by Michael
Ball. Ball would smack the pitch to left field allowing Parker Dane
to come around to score.
St. Pierre and the Pioneers were in control throughout the game,
retiring Willamette batters left and right, not allowing anyone to
pass second base. The Bearcats would manage to squeeze one across
in the fifth inning when Reid came around to score on a double
after advancing to second on a sac bunt.
The late game run by Willamette did not faze the Pioneers who went
straight to work in the bottom of the sixth inning to score the
game-winning run. Ball would lead off the Pioneers half of the
inning with a single to left field, before advancing to second base
on a nicely placed sac bunt by Sami Morgan. Jordan Wlodarczyk would
follow Morgan with a single to left field allowing Ball to move to
third. Kostecka would pick up Ball, sending him home on a single up
the middle. St. Pierre returned to the mound in the top of the
seventh and retired the side for the win.
The Pioneers return to action on Saturday, March 7 at 11 a.m. as
they face George Fox in another NWC series.
